Social Media

Dear Generation X:I think we need to have a talk. As a member of Generation Y who has, like many of my generational cohorts, recently advanced into the world of business (especially the business side of Social Media), I’ve noticed a few things about you all. Firstly, that you’re more social network savvy than we might have given you credit for; but secondly, that you&rsqu...

I have seen no articles on where its possible to get a postgrad Education in SEO or associated fields. And as im about to get such an education, I thought Id share what Ive found. For some time, Fullsail.com has been the only new media education player but now there are some traditional teaching institutions picking up online social media. I have given up my day job and will...

I wasn't able to attend SMX Advanced this year. This really bummed me out. So I followed the event online and gleaned as much information as I could by following their Twitter hash tag and the multiple live bloggers at the event. It was awesome! While I would've much preferred to be in the audience, I got a ton of great information from the event from the comfort...

The golden rule when it comes to social media marketing, as espoused by hundreds of 'social media gurus' (you can tell when someone's a guru because it says so on their Twitter profile), is to "get to know your community". Inspired by The Tipping Point, they'll tell you that there's great gain to be had by "influencing the influencers". And they're ri...

Bada-Bing, Bada-Google, Bada-Performance? The Pursuit of the Perfect Web 2.0 Brand Name
With the advent of the beautifully onomatopoeic brand name Bing into the wider web language over the last few weeks (is it a rooted in US-Italian clichés, microwave sounds, a Google-baiting acronym or some bizarre Friends reference?), we&rsquo...

After a few months of working with a client, I've noticed a hard nosed kamakazi dive into social media by some of the employees there. Numerous emails were sent out alongside meeting requests that bubbled with excitement over this new found gold, "social media." It's not that new. However, despite my questions towards strategy, implementation, target market, budget allocations and the like, we all were whisked away into a board room to find out how Twitter works and how we all should be Twittering about the company.

In participation of Social Media Month, I thought I would highlight an article over at Mashable that fueled (ok, only sparked) some interesting conversation. Adam Ostrow at Mashable wrote an article that posited the question “Is Social Media Making Corporate Websites Irrelevant?”

When I approach a link building campaign, I generally incorporate the following strategies:
* Choose an affinity – what type of sites do I want to contact for a link?
* Compile a list of sites and contact information using Google
* Send out emails
* Follow up [I am hardcore about this – after 2 days, if I haven’t gotten a reply, you can be I’m sending a follow up email. It may drive some people crazy, but it works for me. I swear by the follow up!]

I know, I know, everyone is tired of hearing about Twitter and its amazingness. But what can I say, I’m a fan of being able to reach millions of people at once…for free! I’m fairly new to social media marketing, but what I’ve learned in the past few days has changed the direction of my blog topics.

My Twitter account has close to 1000 followers, which is not an amazing number but still a decent enough to have an effect on referral traffic patterns (and it's a nice, even figure). So what benefit is 1000 followers to your site if you don't tweet or promote your site directly?
I'm not a full-time Twitter guru, and have other accounts that I manage on behalf of clients that generate more interest, so my thought is with my own account how much traffic would I get out of people visiting my site via my profile link because they wanted to learn more about my agency? This is different to a number of Twitter accounts who actively tweet and encourage people to visit their website. I need to know the value of that profile URL for my agency.

Social media sites as of late seem to be a staple of search engine optimization and reputation management, but will this continue to hold true in years to come? It currently seems that one of the easiest ways to get a company/individual to the top of Google is by using social media sites. With Google's current algorithm it only makes sense to register with the popular social media sites out there because they fit the algorithm perfectly.

If you've ever spat the words "Facebook" or "Twitter" in the face of your client or supervisor before, you probably heard one of the three most predictable responses:
1. What the hell is that?
2. Ooh yeah, we gotta get on that and go viral!
3. I don't care what it is - how do we measure it?

Sometimes the best way to understand how to work in a new industry is to reflect on how the industry has affected us in the past. Let's take a step forward in Social Media Marketing by taking a step backwards first. The most important question to ask yourself is:
What "Advertising Stunts" do I remember from social websites?

A recent post on Mashable attempts to develop a case for utilising a candidate’s social media footprint to determine their eligibility for the applied role. The post asserts that if you do not have an expanded and publicly available "social media footprint," you are at a serious disadvantage in the recruitment process to other, more candid candidates. It recommends the creation of fully updated LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profiles and to “shed your preconceived notions of keeping your work and home life separate.”